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Eight-year-old publishes in a scientific journal

At only 8 years old, Sophia Spencer has published a paper in a scientific journal, Discover Wildlife reports. Last year, Spencer’s mother emailed the Entomological Society of Canada (ESC) in Winnipeg to explain that her daughter was being bullied for her love of insects, and asked to be put in contact with a professional entomologist who could answer the girl’s questions. After sharing an anonymized version of this email on Twitter, ESC received more than 100 messages from scientists and people who encouraged Spencer to keep exploring the world of bugs. Following this outpouring of support, Morgan Jackson, the social media editor who sent the original tweet for ESC, decided to write up the story for a special issue on science communication for the Annals of the Entomological Society of America, and invited Spencer to be a co-author.